What is soundman.exe?

The .exe extension on a filename indicates an executable file. Executable files may, in some cases, harm your computer. Therefore, please read below to decide for yourself whether the soundman.exe on your computer is a Trojan that you should remove, or whether it is a file belonging to the Windows operating system or to a trusted application.

Description:Soundman.exe is not essential for the Windows OS and causes relatively few problems. Soundman.exe is located in the C:\Windows folder or sometimes in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files" or in a subfolder of C:\ or in C:\.
Known file sizes on Windows 8/7/XP are 77,824 bytes (23% of all occurrences), 577,536 bytes and 37 more variants.
The file is not a Windows system file. The soundman.exe file is a Microsoft signed file. The software starts upon Windows startup (see Registry key: MACHINE\Run, Run, MACHINE\RunServices, Winlogon\Shell, DEFAULT\Run).
The program has no visible window.
Soundman.exe is able to record keyboard and mouse inputs.
Therefore the technical security rating is 25% dangerous, however you should also read the user reviews.

If soundman.exe is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder, the security rating is 75% dangerous. The file size is 57,344 bytes (20% of all occurrences), 183,808 bytes, 1,244,040 bytes, 221,016 bytes or 112,034 bytes.
The soundman.exe file is not a Windows core file. There is no information about the author of the file. The program is not visible. The file is an unknown file in the Windows folder. The process starts upon Windows startup (see Registry key: MACHINE\Run, Run, MACHINE\RunServices, Winlogon\Shell, DEFAULT\Run).
Soundman.exe is able to monitor applications and hide itself.

If soundman.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows\System32, the security rating is 80% dangerous. The file size is 463,360 bytes.
The program has no file description. The soundman.exe file is located in the Windows folder, but it is not a Windows core file. The program has no visible window. The process starts when Windows starts (see Registry key: MACHINE\Run, Run, MACHINE\RunServices, Winlogon\Shell, DEFAULT\Run).
The file is not a Windows core file.
Soundman.exe is able to record keyboard and mouse inputs.

If soundman.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Documents and Settings", the security rating is 72% dangerous. The file size is 44,544 bytes.

External information from Paul Collins:There are different files with the same name:

"soundman" is not required to run at start up. System Tray icon for the Realtek AC97 Audio Sound Manager for AC97 onboard audio. Available via Start → Settings→ Control Panel

Important: Some malware camouflages itself as soundman.exe, for example Trojan Horse (detected by Symantec), and Worm:Win32/Mansund.gen!A (detected by Microsoft). Therefore, you should check the soundman.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.

Score

User Comments

Ac97 Sound Card Driver Impossible

Safe (from Realtek), but non-essential - only places an icon on systray. Mik

Best practices for resolving soundman issues

A clean and tidy computer is the key requirement for avoiding problems with soundman. This means running a scan for malware, cleaning your hard drive using cleanmgr and sfc /scannow, uninstalling programs that you no longer need, checking for Autostart programs (using msconfig) and enabling Windows' Automatic Update. Always remember to perform periodic backups, or at least to set restore points.

Should you experience an actual problem, try to recall the last thing you did, or the last thing you installed before the problem appeared for the first time. Use the resmon command to identify the processes that are causing your problem. Even for serious problems, rather than reinstalling Windows, you are better off doing a repair of your installation, or in the case of Windows 8, executing the DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command. This allows you to repair the operating system without losing data.

To help you analyze the soundman.exe process on your computer, the following programs have proven to be helpful: Security Task Manager displays all running Windows tasks, including embedded hidden processes, such as keyboard and browser monitoring or Autostart entries. A unique security risk rating indicates the likelihood of the process being potential spyware, malware or a Trojan. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware detects and removes sleeping spyware, adware, Trojans, keyloggers, malware and trackers from your hard drive.